


The Story of Hibari Kyoya: Told in a Series of Flashbacks(Because Hindsight is Always 20/20)

by orphan_account



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-15
Updated: 2012-11-15
Packaged: 2017-11-18 17:19:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/563512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hibari is an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Story of Hibari Kyoya: Told in a Series of Flashbacks(Because Hindsight is Always 20/20)

The life of Hibari Kyoya is a story told in black and white, with jagged edges and ragged lines. It’s unrefined and doesn’t have the familiar worn edges that most lives have from being looked over and reflected upon again and again. It isn’t until its old and near its end that Hibari, tired and alone, sitting at his kitchen table, runs his fingers lightly across its edges. And the memories lightly prick at his fingers, the sharp edges digging into his skin, and the slight pain and pressure remind him that maybe, somewhere along the course of the story,there’s been a mistake. A little red squiggly underline somewhere that’s been trying to draw his attention for years, but he’s never looked over his story.

—

_And in the beginning there was a meeting. On a fine spring day when the scent of cherry blossoms mixed with the smell of sweat and the taste of blood in the back of someone’s throat. There was the warmth of another body beneath his and the thrum of a pulse against his cold metal arms, alive and beating insistently against it. He has an impulse for the longest moment, to break the man beneath him, to taste the blood coursing through the veins beneath him and to paint an elegy of red to him across the rooftop._

_But the moment passes and he’s left alone with his thoughts of_ what if? _And the Hibari of the future screams to him that he should’ve ended it right there before there could be another and before he would memorize the warmth of that body beneath his._

_But the moment passes and he’s left alone with his thoughts of_ what if. 

—

The warmth of that time doesn’t bother to even linger anymore and all Hibari has is his empty apartment and cold memories that seem like someone else’s.

—

_This exchange of theirs has become routine and each session ends with the taste of Dino Cavallone’s name on Hibari’s lips._

_This time ends with a promise and Hibari stares at the ring in the Italian’s hands. And instead of a heartfelt reply or tears in his eyes, he replies to his proposal with a streak of silver and a wicked grin, because violence and bloodlust are Hibari Kyoya’s signature._

—

It is years later that Hibari reflects on that ring again and remembers how the herbivore long disposed of it and its brethren years ago and wonders idly if that was when everything changed.

—

_It’s years later when the battle scars are now etched into their being that the blood starts pooling beneath Hibari. It’s reached his expensive Italian shoes now but he refuses to move. The lifeless eyes of the tenth stare up at him as if in question and his arms are useless weights hanging at his side. In the distance he can hear cries of despair and the herbivore’s right hand man is clinging to him in disbelief. They shouldn’t be idle, the battle still wages on around them, but the only thing anyone can think to say is_ oh. 

_The sound of sneakers squeaking across the hallway floor and explosions outside the disciplinary office echo in Hibari’s mind and in reply he lunges back into battle, because violence and bloodlust are all Hibari Kyoya’s ever known._

—

He buried the armband years ago (because Hibari Kyoya is anything but sentimental) but in those secret moments when he has nothing but his thoughts to occupy him, he’d like to go back.

—

_They’re standing in the same place they were over a decade ago, but everything’s changed. The world is a mess of chaos and Dino Cavallone is getting married. He looks wearier now and the lines of fatigue are showing in his face as he tries to explain to Hibari. Hibari’s never met a man who wears his grief as plainly on his face as Dino does, and that’s what Hibari takes away from the conversation, because he doesn’t really care how nice Dino’s bride is and what it means for their alliances._

_When Dino hugs Hibari and asks if he’s okay, Hibari replies the same way he always does, because he doesn’t know how else to answer._

_He doesn’t attend the wedding, even at Dino’s insistence and instead spends the night bathed in the blood of his enemies as he raids another enemy hideout._

_He’s shot in the arm that night and wakes up to the clatter of Dino tripping in spectacular fashion across the threshold of his door. And he’s surprised, really, though he doesn’t know why, since Dino always comes._

—

Sometimes the memory of the injury keeps Hibari awake at night, though there’s no reason for it to since there’s no pain, only a lingering question that refuses to be answered.

—

_It’s a long time after, measured in pregnant silences and phone calls that never amount to anything that they face each other again. When Hibari was just getting used to the idea of irresolution and empty gaps being a part of his life again (which is a lie, Hibari knows, because he could never get used to it again) that Lady Cavallone dies. In childbirth Dino had explained on the phone, though it ended up a stillborn in the end. Hibari doesn’t know what Dino wants him to do about it when he asks to meet up again but he leans against Hibari and the weight against his chest feels heavy, heavier than anything Hibari’s ever felt before._

_They just stand in silence as the uncertainty of the future bears down on them._

_When the moment passes, Dino steps back and babbles nonsensically as he runs his hands through his messy hair like he used to and he keeps eyeing Hibari expectantly from the corner of his eye. Hibari doesn’t reply because he doesn’t know how to, doesn’t know if this changes anything._

_Dino bids goodbye and Hibari says, “go.’ Instead of “stay” and when Dino gives him one last forlorn look, he finally replies, with a flash of silver and pain as he knocks Dino to the ground, because its all he’s ever known._

_Dino gives him a shocked look for a moment before his face twists in anger and he responds in kind. Before they know it, they’re rolling across the floor, a flurry of anger and frustration, and unspoken words as they fight. Except this time, their exchange is inelegant, unrefined and desperate._

_Hibari pins Dino to the floor and the familiar warmth of another body beneath his reminds him of their first encounter. Except this time, he’s tired and worn-out. The smell of sweat and blood mixes with the strange scent of Dino’s cologne and this time Hibari does taste blood. He tastes the blood of the body beneath his as he leans down and traces the cut on Dino’s lip with his tongue and its all he’s ever wanted since that first time on the rooftop. Their hot breath mixes and this time Dino’s the one left with Hibari’s name on his lips, desperate and needy._

_And then Hibari pushes him away as though scorched by fire. Dino is left frustrated and confused as he looks up at Hibari who doesn’t reply. He just shakes his head and runs away from the memory._

—

Moments turn to days which turn to years and Hibari is left with _what if_. And the question paints the dark walls of Hibari’s apartment and the quiet nights of nothing. Hibari has never picked up his phone, never punched in the number he knows by heart.

It’s only at the end of his story that Hibari finds the red underline and thinks that maybe, just maybe, he’d like to see that golden skin again and trace those laughlines with his eyes, and the dial tone reminds him of the steady pulse of a warm body beneath his.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a year ago on my cellphone on the bus on my way to school, which is about three hours. So, I apologize for any typos or inconsistencies, I tried to catch them as best I could. I just had to puke out this purple prose??
> 
> Also apologies for the distinct lack of explicit D18, haha.


End file.
